Russia has rejected reports that it threatened Ukraine with military assault if it does not surrender the Crimea by 3am on Tuesday as "total nonsense".

Amid the confusion of the worst diplomatic crisis since the Cold
War, the Russian Defence Ministry told RT that the country has
"become accustomed to the daily accusations by the Ukrainian media
of carrying out some sort of military actions against our Ukrainian
colleagues".

Relations between East and West have plummeted as the Russian
Government continued to ignore calls from Western leaders to leave
the Ukrainian area.

This morning, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,
justified the military incursion claiming it was necessary in order
to protect his country's citizens living there. "This is a question
of defending our citizens and compatriots, ensuring human rights,
especially the right to life," he said.

It followed claims from the Ukrainian Defence Ministry that
Russian fighter jets had "violated" the country's airspace over the
Black Sea overnight and that Russian forces were now in control of
the port city of Sevastopol, where the Black Sea fleet is
based.

The takeover of the ferry terminal on the eastern tip of Crimea
by Russian troops has exacerbated fears that Moscow is planning to
bring even more troops into the strategic Black Sea region. There
was no immediate comment from the Russian Defence Ministry.

In a series of interviews last night the US Secretary of State,
John Kerry, said the Obama administration was looking at what
sanctions to impose if Russia didn't "step back" from its military
incursion. "There could even be, ultimately, asset freezes, visa
bans" and disruption of trade, Kerry said on NBC's Meet the Press programme.

During a visit to Kiev today, the Foreign Secretary William
Hague described the situation as "certainly the biggest crisis in
Europe in the 21st century", adding that there was "no
justification" for the actions in Crimea, where Russia had "in
effect taken control".

Echoing US President Obama's speech on Friday, the Foreign
Secretary said Moscow should be in no doubt that it faced
"significant costs" for its move into the Ukrainian region.

However, at a news conference with Ukraine Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, he said that any military response was not on
the tale at the moment: "The UK is not discussing military options.
Our concentration is on diplomatic and economic pressure."

President Vladimir Putin has defended Russia's actions, blaming
"ultra-nationalist forces" for seizing power in Kiev. A Kremlin
statement posted online said Putin told the German Chancellor,
Angela Merkel, on Sunday that measures taken by Russia so far were
"fully adequate" and in response to the unrelenting threat of
violence" to "Russian citizens and the whole Russian-speaking
population".

Earlier today, as Russia sought to draw support from the
international community, Mr Lavrov said that he had discussed
Ukraine with his Chinese counterpart and that the two veto-wielding
UN Security Council members had "broadly coinciding points of view"
and would stay in close contact on the issue.

Yesterday, Ukraine's country's acting Prime Minister said that
his country was "on the brink of disaster" after hundreds of
unidentified gunmen engaged in a stand-off with troops at a base in
the Crimean peninsula.

Emerging from a closed session of parliament in Kiev, Mr
Yatsenyuk described President Putin's decision to send in troops as
a "declaration of war", and said "there was no reason for the
Russian Federation to invade Ukraine.

The Nato Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, called on
Russia to "stop its military activities and its threats" after
convening an emergency meeting. "What Russia is doing now in
Ukraine violates the principles of the United Nations Charter," he
said. "It threatens peace and security in Europe."

Yesterday, the G7 group of major industrialised nations
condemned Russia's intrusion into Ukraine . It has also cancelled
preparations for the G8 summit that was to include Russia,
scheduled for Sochi in June, the White House confirmed.

The group said in a statement: "We, the leaders of Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United
States and the President of the European Council and President of
the European Commission, join together today to condemn the Russian
Federation's clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Ukraine.

"We have decided for the time being to suspend our participation
in activities associated with the preparation of the scheduled G8
Summit in Sochi in June," it added.

The G7 also urged Russia to hold talks with Ukraine directly to
address any human rights or security concerns it has.

The group expressed its support for Ukraine's bid to secure
financial help from the International Monetary Fund and to make
reforms to its economy.

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